Where the art of presenting and presentation design, social media, and customer relationships converge

December 19, 2010

I've moved all the email subscription and RSS feed info to the new site, so you don't have to take any action. However, if you find that you are not receiving your Presentation Advisors posts in your email anymore or your RSS feed isn't working, please let me know.

December 15, 2010

Last week I posted part 1 of bouncing back from a presentation mishap, where I threw up what I thought was a softball question and heard only crickets. Well, as I mentioned in that post, there was more...

The organizer wanted me to fill a time block about a half hour longer than this particular presentation normally takes, so I added in some new content and was confident I'd hit my timing no problem. I was even pretty excited about the new content because it revolved around a personal story about a friend of mine, and stories are powerful presentation tools.

However, the story didn't work. At least, it was falling on mostly deaf ears to this audience. It was a story that had a web 2.0 theme to it and the audience just wasn't technically savvy enough to really follow the point I was trying to make. Many audience members couldn't see the forest for the trees and missed the point. My fault, completely.

I could have used a simpler method to tell my story and make my point, but unfortunately I didn't, and the audience let me know...immediately. I always tell my audience that I accept questions at ANY time during my presentation. There's no such thing as interrupting me with a question (unless you actually interrupt me). I love opend and honest conversation during a presentation, since presentations themselves are conversations. So as soon as a few of the audience members got lost, they started raising their hands. I was able to reel the discussion back on track, however once we were all on the same page I was already at least 10 minutes behind where I wanted to be.

I still finished in time without skipping through slides or not giving them their due diligence, but I had much less time for open Q&A than I would have liked. I felt as though I had let them down, but while it technically was in my hands, it really wasn't. Just like I couldn't beat myself up for my mishap from part 1, I couldn't beat myself up for this mishap either. I took all the feedback to heart and altered my presentation accordingly. All I can do is try my best to make sure it never happens again.

Honesty is crucial. Not just in presenting, or business. It's crucial in life, period. You probably won't see a lot of presentation designers and trainers talk so openly about their mishaps, but that's only because they're hiding them. It happens to all of us. I write posts like these because I know they can help you, and that's all that matters to me.

I fell into presentation design because I love marketing. Scott Stratten is one of my favorite marketers, or should I say "UnMarketers", and he devotes a good portion of his recent book outlining all the mistakes he made in social media. I was so thankful he did because I made some of those mistakes too. It made me feel better that I not only wasn't the only one, but someone who I highly respect in the social media space made the same mistakes.

In its seventh year, SlideShare.net's World's Best Presentation Contest fielded 1,822 entries in five categories. First, second, and third place overall were awarded, as well as six individual category winners.

I especially want to thank each and every one of you that voted for me, ReTweeted me, and supported me thorughout this contest. I was overwhelmed by how supportive, helpful, and simply awesome my readers, colleagues, family and friends are.

December 09, 2010

Two months ago I delivered a presentation to a room full of entrepreneurs, small business owners, retirees and the like about preparing for, designing, and delivering an effective presentation. This was the first time I had presented for this particular group, and there's always opportunity to stumble when you're personally unfamiliar with an audience (though there is never a situation where there's zero chance of stumbling).

The setup and technology tests went great and I had ample time to meet the attendees as they entered the room. I already found a few allies and was confident that it was going to go well.

I introduced myself and began to address the problem we're all facing with presentations today. I had decided to ask the audience a question right off the bat. I usually don't, but I had a good feeling about this audience after meeting them as they arrived. With an easel to my back and marker in my hand ready to field the flood of answers I asked, "What do you hate most about PowerPoint presentations?"

I got crickets...

Zip. Zero. Nada. Nobody had anything to say. Gulp...

Whenever I mention to anyone, young or old, that I design PowerPoint presentations, without missing a beat they will go into a diatribe of everything they hate about PowerPoint and presentations. From boredom to presenters who read to slides with massive amouts of text - I usually have to stop them so the conversation can move on. Not this group...not this time.

Like a good teacher coaxes answers out of shy or slightly confused students, I could have and maybe should have tried to coax some responses out of them. I knew that they knew what bothered them about presentations. If they thought nothing was wrong, then they wouldn't be there.

Instead, I chose to move on. I had called an audible and put them on the spot within minutes of their arrival and it wasn't the right move. However, I wasn't going to beat myself up about it. I had plenty more to talk to them about and this presentation train wasn't getting derailed under my watch.

I deal with presentations on a daily basis, but I'm also a human. Things don't always work for me. I make mistakes too. No presenter is perfect. What I hope you learn from this is that it's not how few mistakes you make, it's how you bounce back from them. Use that negative experience and turn it into a positive, learning from it and gaining new insight into how audiences work. I now know better than to put my audience on the spot so quickly in a room full of unfamiliar people.

Also know that even if you think you're doing the right thing, it may be wrong. In ten other situations with ten other audiences maybe I would have gotten the reaction I desired, but this situation wasn't the right one. That doesn't mean you are a bad presenter or that you didn't prepare properly. Human nature is hard to predict. Learn from the experience.

Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It's OK to fail. If you're not failing, you're not growing. - H. Stanley Judd

This wasn't my only mishap in this presentation. I'll be back with Part 2 to cover some content and timing issues I had and what you need to take into consideration.

Not only is Chris a marketing and social media rockstar, creator of "your second favorite blog", and a sought after speaker, he goes ahead and leaps into my genre and writes a very useful post for anyone who presents.

The nerve!

Faux anger aside, Chris hits some super-important points to help presenters of all shapes, sizes, and experience levels create and deliver a memorable presentation. And if you consider my writings to be any shred of useful, then his is pretty much gospel, as he has given close to a thousand presentation over the years to rave reviews and constant speaking requests.

Start with a Plan

One of Chris' tune-up tips was to start with a plan and know it by heart. He notes that while many people think they have a plan, that's not necessarily true. Chris writes, "They have slides, and those are arranged in an order, but if I shut their laptop lid, there is absolutely no plan."

Your story structure is paramount in creating a memorable and effective presentation. Always make sure your presentation boils down to a singular main point that may expand to two or three sub-points, but that's it. Make sure you know EXACTLY what you want your audience to walk away from the presentation with. You've got to know this by heart, because if your equipment fails, it's just you and your thoughts...

From there, work to create an effective but relatively brief introduction stating where we are now and where we will/can be. Tie the presentation together at the end by recapping your main/sub points, and make sure to leave the audience with the final thought of what can/will be, or what's possible. I'm greatly oversimplifying it, but even formatting your presentation (this doesn't just mean "slides" either) to fit this type of story framework will help you create a coherent and engaging presentation.